


The Only One That Remembers

by goldenzel



Series: SBI Fics [4]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: 2020 L'Manberg Election on Dream Team SMP (Video Blogging RPF), Dream Team SMP Spoilers, Family Dynamics, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-07
Updated: 2021-01-07
Packaged: 2021-03-18 09:54:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28616136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goldenzel/pseuds/goldenzel
Summary: Phil wasn't the best friend- no, the bestdadthe first time, but this time he is going to make everything right.
Relationships: Wilbur Soot & Phil Watson, Wilbur Soot & Technoblade & TommyInnit & Phil Watson
Series: SBI Fics [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2090814
Comments: 9
Kudos: 186





	The Only One That Remembers

He had already had a feeling that something was wrong as he did the daily chores, keeping up Techno’s potato farm and feeding the restless animals in the shed. It wasn’t until he got the letter written in messy handwriting, a style he recognized well, quickly scribbled on a flimsy piece of paper that he had to ensure that his boys were okay.

He was so close to saving him. He tried to reason with him, but the crazed look in the man’s eyes didn’t belong to his son. He had to watch as the nation was blown to smithereens, shielding the man who was once his son with his widespread wings. He had to watch as Wilbur thrust the sword into his hand. He had to watch as he granted his son’s final wish. Phil had to kill him. There was no other way--at least that was what he told himself.

He watched as his older son placed the six precious gray skulls on the whispering, smokey sand. Tears threatened to spill as he yelled for Tommy and Tubbo, trying his best to maneuver around the rumble despite being off balance, not used to the irreparable wings limp on his back. He tried to get to the youngest of the group, to save the children who were fighting an adult’s battle. Before he could get closer, the loud boom of the withers spawning rung in his ears. Techno was laughing. Phil wanted to reason with Techno, he wanted to make the voices go away, all he wanted to save the broken family he had left. 

He told himself that Tommy was fine, surrounded by his friends in the newly built L’manburg when he decided to help Techno ground himself in the cold snow, far away from civilization. 

He told himself that Tommy was exiled for a reason. He told himself that Tommy was the problem and he just needed a week or so to himself. 

When they put him on house arrest, he was worried. He wasn’t worried about Tommy, he was safe on the beach in Logstedshire. He wasn’t worried about Ghostbur, the go-lucky, amnesiac, but dead version of his son. He was worried about Techno. It was always Techno.

He was so thrilled that Techno had the totem and escaped with all of his lives that he forgot about everything else for a second. Then, he looked down at his hands and feet and was met with the cold metal rubbing into his flesh. 

That was when he decided he had had enough, and met Techno in the snow. He was surprised by the presence of Tommy, an old Antarctic Empire uniform smothering him with its warm fur. It was nice to hear from him, but Phil caught him mumbling about Dream, a man Phil hadn’t met yet but had heard of from the past. However, Tommy thought of him as a friend, so he thought nothing of it.

Techno was out of retirement once Tommy arrived. They planned to get Tommy’s discs back and commit minor terrorism in L’manburg. Phil found the latter a bit amusing. He thought of L’manburg as unsaveable. It wasn’t worth fighting for anymore.

When Techno came back through the portal, he was alone, and he wasn’t happy about it. Phil only got a main idea of what happened, but he agreed to completely destroy L’manburg. 

They got help from Dream, someone who wasn’t as much of a friend as Phil thought, but more of an ally (according to Techno). There was a lot of tnt and way too many withers, but he told himself that they weren’t planning on casualties. Techno wouldn’t let his brothers die, right?

It wasn’t until he saw Tommy and Tubbo, side by side, dirty and covered in blood in the unsalvageable crater that he had helped create, arguing with Techno about their neverending differences that Phil realized how stupid he had been. He had forgotten how much his other son needed him in his grief. He had neglected Tommy just because he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to save him. He was afraid Tommy would end up like Wilbur. 

He tried shouting at Techno, climbing around the edges of the hollow nation. Quite like the first explosion, he wanted to fix his broken family. Phil wanted to right his wrongs.

However, before he could move any closer, his vision abruptly blurred and the room started to spin. The netherite sword in his hand thudded onto the ground as Phil tried to steady himself. He barely registered that he fell to his knees and later on the dirty, stone ground as the man passed out to the sound of chaos surrounding him.

\--------------------

“Phil?”

His ears were ringing and the sound was muffled but he could hear someone saying his name. He opened his eyes, blinking to clear the fuzziness from the edge of his vision. Phil was standing in the room with the words scratched on the walls to the tune of “My L’manburg.” The room with Wilbur, hand hovering near the button that would end it all. 

At first Phil thought he was dreaming. He looked behind him, the long tunnel ending with bright light from the outside. He looked at himself, his wings intact, his old robes hanging on his body. He turned back to Wilbur, taking in the sight of the damaged man. His son.

Phil tried to open his mouth, to say something that would magically fix everything, but nothing came out. Instead he decided to test something and pinched himself on the arm. It hurt.

“I- Is this real?” Phil stammered, taking a step back into the tunnel that led out of the room.

Wilbur was confused at Phil’s behavior, but he knew he had to continue with his plan. “I wasn’t doing anything. We just made Tubbo president, and- and we won! We won the war and Schlatt’s gone, Phil!”

All Phil did was stare. This was how it happened the first time. Wilbur was going to press that wooden button and demolish everything--again.

“You wouldn’t know, I haven’t sent you letters for a while now. Sorry about that.”

Tommy had sent the letter to Phil, telling him that they were going to war and that it would be great if he helped. Phil knew now that this whole time Tommy just wanted his family back, and he was too oblivious to see it.

“Mhm,” was all Phil could say, his mind reeling with possibilities. He could save Wilbur this time. They could be a family again.

“Do you know what this button does, Phil?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Have you heard the song on the walls?” Wilbur had a small smile on his face, as if he was remembering the nation before it fell. “There was a special place, but it’s not there anymore. It’s not.”

Phil came to a decision that he had to try. He had to try harder than before. 

“Wilbur- Will, please.” Wilbur tensed as Phil changed his tone, using the nickname that he gave him when he was just a child. 

“Do you know what L’manburg was built for? You formed this nation for freedom. To live your life away from the tyranny of the DreamSMP with your friends and family. This? This is the same. You are doing this for yourself. You don’t know what everyone else wants. Help them understand why. Help them learn.”

They stood in silence, Phil holding his breath as Wilbur stared at nothing, gears turning in his head and water forming in his blank eyes. “Please, Will. Let’s go home.” 

Wilbur blinked out of his trance, a single tear falling down his face. He didn’t take the time to think about how Phil knew so much about L’manburg.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’d like that.”

Phil moved to his son, wrapping his arms around the taller man. As he felt Wilbur’s long arms snake around his back, he whispered reassuring words as they clung to each other, quiet sobbing filling the room. 

Techno, Tommy, and Tubbo were still on the other side of the tnt, swords clashing and withers roaring, but this was a start. This was just the first step. He is the only one that remembers, and he is going to do all he can to create a new, better ending.

**Author's Note:**

> i've skipped so many days already woops-


End file.
